Barn cleaning apparatus



G. C. BERGER BARN CLEANING APPARATUS July 18, 1961 Filed Dec. 18, 1958United States Patent 2,992,724 BARN CLEANING APPARATUS George C. Berger,Erskine, Minn. Filed Dec. 18, 1958, Ser. No. 781,397 1 Claim. (Cl.198-164) This invention relates to barn and stable cleaning apparatusfor the removal and delivery of accumulating refuse and manure from thegutters traversing the rear end of the stalls in a barn or stable.

Apparatus of the prior art in most instances requires specialinstallation of the barn gutters or complicated installations ofconveyor and elevator or in some instances reversible conveyor mechanismwith the added disadvantage of reversal before removal operation.

None of the prior art, to my knowledge, provides a simplifiedcombination conveyor and elevated discharge or loader, effective at theexterior of the barn for removing by means of one leaf or run of anendless conveyor all the refuse contained in an elongated continuoustrough of a barn and for also elevating the moving material and removingthe same from the barn and unloading the material upon a manure spreaderor other form of vehicle disposed outside the barn.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simplified but highlyeflicient apparatus of the class described wherein essentially onecontinuous endless conveyor disposed at the bottom of the continuousgutter in a barn may serve to collect, remove, elevate and discharge therefuse from said gutter upon a vehicle disposed outside the barn oralternatively to pile the same at such location.

A further object is the provision of barn cleaning apparatus which maybe readily installed within conventional barns and wherein the conveyormeans such as an endless chain or belt is housed and ventilated with theexception of the working leaf or run thereof which is disposed in thecontinuous barn gutter.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of apparatus ofthe class described wherein an elevated discharge chute with a powersource for driving the conveying means is disposed exteriorly of thebarn for continuously dumping and loading refuse onto a vehicle disposedtherebelow and which for conveying and elevating discharge requires onlyone elongated continuous endless conveyor.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fullyappear from the following description, made in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to thesame or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section (foreshortened) taken through aconventional type of cattle barn along the inner longitudinal edge ofone of the refuse gutters therein and illustrating an embodiment of myapparatus in operation;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross section taken along the line 2-2 of FIG.1; and

FIG. 3 is a detail section taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1 looking inthe direction of the arrows.

An embodiment of my apparatus for cleaning, discharging and loadingrefuse from the gutters of animal barns or stables as illustrated isapplied longitudinally to a cattle barn B of conventional structurehaving the usual cattle stalls S disposed in side by side spacedrelation and having a continuous feeding trough F formed in the floorand outside wall forwardly of the sides of said stalls, and having alsoformed at the rear of said stalls a continuous refuse or manure trough Twhich extends substantially from the rear end of said barn to theforward end A in the conventional manner. My invention includes acontinuous conveyor medium disposed in the Patented July 18, 1961 bottomof trough T and preferably comprising a flexible endless conveyorindicated as an entirety by the letter C so distended and mounted thatthe lower run or leaf L is guided horizontally and smoothly across thebottom of trough T. As shown, the bottom of the trough T, for smoothguiding effect and improved sanitation, is provided with a metal linerstrip X, although this is unneccessary insofar as the purposes of myinvention are concerned.

The upper run U of conveyor C is guided and distended through asubstantially horizontal path and is preferably enclosed within anelongated horizontal duct D extending substantially the full length ofthe barn and suitably supported from such means as hanger brackets Hwhich may be rigidly aflixed to the ceiling of the lower chamber of thebarn.

Endless conveyor C as shown is guided by and trained about a pluralityof preferably rotary conveyor guiding elements which as shown are in theform of sprockets intermeshing with two sets of conventional conveyorchains 5 which are composed of rectangular lengths hinged together forflexibility. The sets of parallel endless chains are secured by equallyspaced opposed links through cleats or scraper bars 6 throughout thelength of the endless conveyor C, which bars as shown comprise angleplates having the ends thereof rivet-ed or otherwise aflixed to laterallugs integrally formed in the appropriate links, extended inwardly fromthe sides of the links. The angle bars 6 at their longitudinal apexesrigidly carry heavy rods 6a which are adapted to bear against the bottomof trough T in the operation of my apparatus.

Referring in detail to the conveyor or chain distending and guidingelements it will be noted that in the rear of the barn just above thetrough T, a shaft 7 is suitably journaled carrying at the end thereofsprockets 7a over which the two endless chains of the conveyor C aretrained. Near the front A of the barn, a second shaft 8 is suitablyjournaled just above the collection portion of the trough having afiixedto the ends thereof sprockets 8a which are also engaged by the two sidechains of the conveyor.

An upwardly extending, preferably inclined elevator housing or chute 9communicates at its lower and inner end through a curved bottom plate9:! with the forward end of trough T and has a discharge opening 9b atthe forward portion thereof which is disposed outwardly of the frontwall of the barn for some distance and at a height for unloading of therefuse material upon a manure spreader or other form of vehicle Vpositioned exteriorly of the front end of the barn. Endless conveyor Cis housed by the elevator 9 and for its initial operation is supportedupon and guided by the curved plate 9a and the bottom of the housing.

In the form of the invention shown the elevator housing 9 has rigidlyafiixed thereto a supporting casing 10 rigidly secured to one of theside walls thereof and eX- tending laterally therefrom. Casing 10 is arigid structure and has a base at 10a upon which, as shown, anelectrical motor M is mounted having an armature or power take off shaft11 provided with a V belt pulley 11!: which is engaged by an endless Vbelt 12 trained about a variable speed split pulley 13 aflixed to theouter end of a counter shaft 14. Counter shaft 14 extendsperpendicularly to the line of travel of the conveyor and as shown issuitably journaled in bearings 15 and 16 supported from casing 10 andadjacent the side wall of the elevator housing 9 respectively. Thecounter shaft 14 is driven at a much slower speed than the speed ofmotor shaft 11 and in turn through a pinion 14a connected by an endlesschain 17 with a pinion 17a drives a second counter shaft 18 suitablyjournaled near the outer and upper extremity of the elevator housing.Shaft 18 at its end opposite to pinion 17a rigidly carries a secondpinion 1712 which is connected by an endless chain 19 to drive a stubshaft 20 to the inner end of which is affixed the chain pinion 21 fordriving one of the chains of the endless conveyor.

The shaft 14 at its inner extremity and located just inwardly of theadjacent wall of the elevator housing has aflixed thereto a second chainpinion 22 for engaging and driving the second chain of the conveyor,pinions 21 and 22 being synchronized and driven at precisely the samespeed. Said pinions 21 and 22 will further guide and distend the forwardangled portion of the endless conveyor being trained about more thanhalf of the diameter of said sprockets.

The outer and upper end of the elevator housing or chute is rigidlysupported by overhanging heavy beams 23 which are aflixed at their baseportions 23a to the front wall of the barn.

The forward end of the upper chain duct D as shown has forwardlyextending and depending shaft-mounting bars 24 rigidly secured theretoin which a transverse shaft 25 is mounted having affixed near the endthereof chain guiding sprockets over which the conveyor is trained andguided in operation into the forward open end of duct D.

A ventilating flue 26 communicates as shown with the forward end of ductD from above and extends for some distance above the top of the barn toprovide adequate draft for efficiently venting the entire duct D.

As shown in FIG. 1, a depending duct section D1 communicates with therear end of the main duct D extending downwardly to approximately thetrough T and being of a width for loosely accommodating and enclosingthe rear leaf or portion of the conveyor.

Chain tightening mechanism of suitable form is applied to the upper rearcorner of the endless conveyor C, and as illustrated in FIG. 1 comprisesa pair of rigidly interconnected spaced arms 27 pivoted on pins 27a attheir lower ends at points just above trough T and carrying at theirupper ends a transverse shaft 27 17 upon which idler chain sprockets 28are mounted for guiding the chain and downwardly angling with curvedeffect on the travel thereof. The arms 27 are urged rearwardl'y by acoil compression spring 29 interposed between a supported channel 36 anda cup or channel element 31 affixed to the upper portion of arms 27. Itis to be understood that other suitable chain tightening mechanism maybe employed which might comprise the hinging of the duct section D1 atthe lower end thereof, with said duct section itself at the upper endbeing physically disconnected from the main duct section D and carryingthe chain pinions 28. In this case the spring 29 is pressed directlyagainst the hinged duct section D1.

If the scraper bars 6 are spaced closely together, no additionalconveying mechanism is needed in the elevator housing 9. However, Iprefer to space said bars distances approximately within a range between9 to 15 inches, in which instance it is desirable at the bottom of theelevator housing to provide an auxiliary bottom elevating conveyor. Asshown in the drawings, a short apron type endless conveyor 32 isdisposed in the bottom of elevator housing 9 with its upper leaf lyingsubstantially flush with the said bottom of a width narrower than and towork between the two endless chains of the conveyor, being trained uponfriction drums 33 and 34 respectively and driven at a synchronized speedto the travel of the main conveyor C by chain and sprocket drivingconnection with shaft 123 (not shown). The apron 32 on its outersurfaces has formed a multiplicity of closely spaced rubber cleats whichsupplement the elevating action of the angle bar scrapers on the mainchain, assisting in moving and elevating the refuse including straw,manure and the like to the discharge 9!; of the elevator housing.

Suitable stripper mechanism is provided for removing adhering straw andrefuse from the conveyor after dis charge of the material. Variousscraping means such as tines may be utilized. In the form illustrated(see FIG. 1) I employ a resilient flap or strip 35, which may beconstructed of a material such as rubber, secured at its upper end. Asupporting bracket 35a is positioned just forwardly of the chainsprockets 25a. The free lower edge of the stripper 35 is preferablyslotted adjacent the ends thereof to straddle the edges of the links ofthe conveyor chain and the medial portion of the stripper frictionallyengaging against the bars or slots 6 of the conveyor wiping materialtherefrom in the return travel of the conveyor.

Operation A small amount of straw is usually distributed upon the chainconveyor at the bottom of the gutter or trough T. After refuse hascollected in the trough T, the same may be very quickly removed,elevated and discharged by starting the motor and continuing theoperation of my apparatus for a relatively short period usually fromfive to ten minutes.

The driving of conveyor C, continuously forward throughout the lower oroperating run thereof through the forward movement of the cross bars 6pushes and scrapes refuse material and straw forwardly of the gutter andham to the entrance of the elevator housing 9. The material is thenguided upwardly by the curved plate 9a and the bottom 9 of the elevatorhousing. The cooperating lower or bottom apron conveyor 32 with itsclosely spaced cleats 32a cooperates to elevate the material to thedischarge opening 9b where the material drops from some height and maybe discharged into a vehicle V or may be piled if desired outside of thebarn.

The conveyor after discharge of the material is engaged by strippermechanism 35 whereby substantially all straw and adhering refuse isremoved before respective sections of the conveyor enter the horizontalduct D.

The elongate ventilating flue 26 thoroughly vents the duct D and alsothe extension D1.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided acomparatively simple but highly eflicient cleaning, discharging andloading apparatus for the refuse gutters of barns and stables which maybe quickly installed without requiring skilled workmen in ordinary barnsand without reconstructing or changing the gutters and other structuralportions of the barn or stable.

My apparatus is positive in action and improves cleanliness andsanitation as contrasted with apparatus of the prior art.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention which consists of the mattershown and described herein and set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

Cleaning, discharge and loading apparatus for the refuse gutters ofanimal barns and the like, having in combination an elongated, endlessconveyor mounted and distended with its lower run disposedlongitudinally at the bottom of a refuse gutter and with an upper runtrained and guided in widely spaced overhanging relation to said lowerand operating run, said conveyor being comprised of a pair of elongatedflexible elements interconnected by a multiplicity of transverse scraperand conveyor bars, and upwardly extending elevator housing at one end ofthe barn having its lower end communicating with one end of said gutterand having an upper discharge opening, said endless conveyor passingthrough said elevator housing, a plurality of conveyor-guiding elementsabout which said conveyor is trained and distended, one thereof beingdisposed adjacent the upper end of said elevator housing, another beingdisposed at the forward end of said gutter adjacent the communicationarea between said gutter and the lower end of said housing and anotherbeing disposed adjacent the rear end of said gutter, a cQfifinuous ductmounted in said barn in widely spaced, overhanging relation to the loweroperating run of said conveyor and housing the upper run of saidconveyor, said duct having an upwardly extending section at the rear endthereof communicating with said overhanging seotion and extendingdownwardly to intercommunication with the rear of said gutter and alsohousing said conveyor, air vent means communicating with the upperportion of said duct, controllable means for driving said conveyor in acontinuous direction with the lower operating run thereof progressingforwardly to said elevator housing and then upwardly through saidhousing and across said discharge opening and thereafter rearwardlythroughout said duct, and an auxiliary bottom conveyor mounted at thelower portion of said elevator housing and including an endless drivenelement having a multiplicity of transversely spaced cleats which workthrough the bottom of said elevator housing, further characterized bythe upwardly extending section of said duct having conveyor-guidingmeans near the upper end thereof and being mounted for outward shiftingrelation of said upper end thereof relative to said upper duct section,and means for urging said upwardly extending section outwardly throughsaid guiding means to apply tension to said endless conveyor.

References Cited in the file of this. patent UNITED STATES PATENTS592,280 Crandall Oct. 26, 1897 615,748 Richner Dec. 13, 1898 888,765Stevens May 26, 1908 1,197,060 Petersen Sept. 5, 1916 1,600,357 PeilSept. 21, 1926 1,640,825 Flintrop Aug. 30, 1927

